Stronger, Still
by killura
Summary: Thirty-something years after his last confrontation with the other members of Team Seven, Uchiha Sasuke contemplates his sanity, his ambitions, and his next move against Konohagakure no Sato. Oneshot.


**Disclaimer: **Naruto is copyrighted, owned, and trademarked by Masashi Kishimoto. etc, etc.  
>A thirty-four year jump between this, and Chapter 486 of the series. There we go.<p>

This is actually a one-shot, originally started as a Prologue to another fic which I started to post, but took down for purpose of more planning and rewrite. I'm curious to know if anyone would want to see the fic itself, but that's not saying I won't write it if I don't get reviews. I'll write it, anyway. Probably post it. But, I like critique. It would be very nice to get, even if you're not fond of what you see. So, there we are.

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><p><em>"Hey, Sasuke! Did you see what I was thinking? I know you did, 'cause it felt like our thoughts were connected! That bond – I know you felt it, too! You know what's going to happen. The next time we fight, we will die."<em>

_There was an eerie silence, and it had very little to do with the childish delivery. After a few moments, it became apparent that this revelation did not shock anyone – it only brought __forward the unwanted truth; it had come to this. Every moment past led up to this one, and every moment from here on out would only take hope for a peaceful world further and further from reach._

_"If you attack Konoha, I will__ fight you with everything I've got... so embrace all that hatred you have in you, and take it out on me. I'm the only one who will be able to take all of it; all I can do is offer you a means to trash some of it, and die with you. We're friends, so I could at least do that much, right?_

_...He was unable to remember what had been said, next._

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><p>Uchiha Sasuke rose with a tired sigh, using his hands to push himself up off the ground – with this, he visualized all the memories of those days being pushed away from him, buried into the ground. Normally, he would never let on that he was getting old enough to have any use for meditation, but he wasn't normally prone to bouts of bitter nostalgia, either.<p>

Sasuke was surprised – outright furious with his own mind. Over time, this man had become skilled at tucking away uncomfortable memories – nearly as comfortable as he was doing so with people. Sasuke often went without so much as a memory to the faces from his past, to say nothing of the comrades who were only around when he was young; he had long since forgotten about his old comrades in Konohagakure. As far as he was concerned, they hardly even existed beyond their names.

All thoughts of those few years were normally associated with the victory – and death - over Danzou... the man who, no better than trash, had orchestrated the assassination a whole people; even worse, Sasuke's family... the same person who took it one step further, defiling the dead by pillaging the corpses, only to rip people's eyes from their own sockets. Sasuke had been told Konoha's safety was at stake – he would almost believe in his brother's sacrifice, were it not for the bureaucratic nature of the world they lived in. The elders were obviously more than willing to assassinate whole bloodlines, just to more easily achieve a seat of power; just so they could have a tighter grip over the lives of the very people they were meant to protect, these 'leaders' would support mass genocide.

For these reasons, Sasuke had murdered the man in cold blood at the age of sixteen. It was for those very reasons that, to this day, he was filled with glee when remembering how the bastard tried to justify his own actions – as if sacrificing himself for the village would save him from Hell. On happy days, Sasuke would sometimes find himself nearly ecstatic when thinking of the justice he had served.

Not to say it was an act of true, fair justice. If anything, Sasuke's only regret from that day was how he had not forced the man to suffer more...

Despite years of this, he was getting old – the memories were fading. Sasuke had spent days praying, begging his memory lapses could be attributed to old age, but the man knew this was not true – it was much worse than that. The truth was even more disturbing than the signs of his weakening body – scarier than his cracking bones and deteriorated eyesight – even more frightening than the horrible realization that Uchiha Sasuke was running out of time. The simple, devastating truth was that the feelings were fading. It was like acceptance, and the very idea of this made bile rise in Sasuke's throat.

It was never the small lapses, nor was it the loss of the small details (such as the order he had ripped and stabbed the eyes from Danzou's arms) which bothered him, no matter how often Madara tried to convince him otherwise. Sasuke's problem with himself came from his family's death – the day Konoha had bloodied their hands with the decimation of the Uchiha... it was not that he couldn't remember it - in fact, everything about that day was still fresh in his mind. The full moon; the darkness despite, and the unbreakable silence and unbearable screams of those around him... even the illusions of Itachi's Tsukiyomi – he remembered all of them as if they were imprinted on the inside of his skull. All the same... Even today, he could still remember the smell of corpses, just by thinking about it.

Sasuke was now able to watch the scene from a far away place, detached from it. He wanted – _needed_ - to feel the same rage and determination he once had – the same rage which had always been on the brink of destroying him... he could hardly feel that, anymore. The sadness was disappearing, too.

Now, all of it just _was_.

He_ knew_ what everything felt like, and he knew how it should still feel, so he clung to that knowledge with all his being... but somehow, it was only knowledge, and he was still losing grip on what was left of it, as the days went on.

And that was killing him.

The young boy from that night almost thirty-five years ago was filling him with a feeling of disgrace – that boy was scared, and angry, and hated the man he had become. The Sasuke of today could see it – the young boy crying at his own betrayal, because that's exactly what it was: betrayal against his mother; his father, against Itachi, and to every single Uchiha who died on that day. Hoping to justify himself to the boy inside him, Sasuke had spent the last few years thinking hard about the advantages this might bring him, because his goals would never change.

The only comfort came with the clarity; the world had become so unbelievably clear. Sasuke now knew what it was to _really _focus; to see, and to know there was a tomorrow. Sasuke had determined the advantages came when he learned to manipulate the anger that remained – to pull it from within him! He could plan, now... the world no longer sent him berserk quite like it used to, and that gave him a better chance at succeeding in the future.

Years had passed, Sasuke was able to think of these things without being filled to the brim with blind rage; it was now so easy to transform the limitless anger into power - use it as a tool for strength. And, with clearer sight, he was able to see the end result. Avenging everything he ever held dear was in his sight, now that he could see clearly.

There was another advantage to be found in this: In the years after leaving Konoha, he would think of those he left behind and suddenly feel a dull pain in his chest. The emptiness which had come with leaving his old life behind had been so heavy, remembering the days would bring dreaded questions... those _what-if_s. Knowing he had regrets which went beyond blood had driven him mad on more than one occasion. Back when he had left his first life behind, he felt loneliness when Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi would come to mind... he would remember loneliness – such a heavy emptiness, it should have crushed him. As a young man, thinking of his teammates would have been a sign of weakness, which would become a whole new whirlpool of emotions – just another reason to loathe himself.

On the contrary, Sasuke looked at today's dreams of the past as a good omen – the faces did nothing; he felt nothing, one way or the other. Thinking of fighting the Hokage brought him no form of pleasure – the anticipation came with what the name Uzumaki Naruto represented: Konohagakure no Sato's last standing defense. Just thinking about it gave Sasuke a jolt of energy – that same adrenaline that would pulsate through his body when he was young... it was returning! It felt like it could overtake him, and he wanted to bathe in it as badly as he wanted to bathe in the blood of all of those who had allowed things to get this far.

A chuckle rose in his throat as he shivered. "Brother, I know that you still cling to life with these eyes, so watch closely! Those at fault will finally suffer, and everybody will be able to rest in peace!"

For the sake of his younger self, the new generation of Uchiha had to come out victorious.


End file.
